Wednesday night, Billy Evangelista hit what distance athletes call “The Wall.” MMAWeekly.com spoke to him in the throes of cutting weight. Cotton-mouthed and gravelly, he sounded miserable on the phone.

“Hot and tired,” he said. “I’m thinking every time I see a gas station of something, I can drink in there. Part of the untold great things of MMA.”

When Evangelista’s suffering ends Thursday after weigh-ins, he’ll acquaint himself with another unknown, his opponent. Like all of his fights, Evangelista sees them for the first time on the scale. In this day of tape dissecting and game plans, he prefers to improvise when he gets in the cage.

“I think all the secrets are out already,” he said. “I think it’s how well you use them in combination, from move to move, and discipline to discipline. I just know that he’s going to be a tough fighter, and like everybody else, I should be ready for everything he’s going to try and throw at me.”